Exploring teenage body image

Lismore based author Shane Thamm has taken on the topic of body image and how it can affect teenage boys and turned it into a humorous, but insightful book. My Private Pectus is his first novel and was written as part of his Masters Thesis in Creative Writing at the Queensland University of Technology.

Shane had previously worked as a high school outdoor education teacher and said he became interested in what makes young men tick. The title of the book refers to a condition called Pectis Excavatum; a congenital deformity of the chest that is commonly called ‘sunken chest syndrome’ that occurs in about 1 in 500 people, including the book’s main protagonist, Jack ‘Sticks’ McDermott.

“I used this deformity as a bit of tool to push the body image message than runs through the novel... Research suggests up to 45 per cent of men in Western societies are unhappy with their bodies. Some teenage boys overcome their anxieties, but others live in fear about putting their bodies on display at places like the beach or at swimming pools,” Shane said. “Imagine how that impacts Australian men where the beach is a central part of our culture. This book is about letting these boys know that they’re not alone, and about learning to be comfortable in your own skin.”

Shane said that as a skinny bloke at school he was able to draw on some of his own experiences, but he also read personal stories online and conducted interviews as part of his research.

“It’s quite a humorous novel... there’s not another novel on market that deals with this,” Shane said.

The book has been published by Ford Street Publishing, and was short listed for the Northern Territory Book of the Year Award. (Shane was living in Darwin before moving to Lismore).

He will be speaking about the book and about the issues at the Lismore Library on Thursday, June 24 at 5pm and at Ballina Library on Thursday July 8, also at 5pm.